WEEK 7 - CONFORMITY

Conformity

change in behaviour due to the real or imagined influence of others

What are the two main reasons for conforming (IN)

Informational social influence: others you are with/observing may know better than you regarding how to act in a situation

Normative Social Influence: others you are with/observing may not like it when you deviate from others

We may also experience social informational influence when..

- task is important

- in crisis

- rational thought compromised

- contagion

Contagion

rapid spread of behaviour/emotions

mass psychogenic illness

feelings of illness without any identifiable basis or cause, appears contagious and often spreads through population

toxic bus vancouver

Normative social influence can explain..

car surfing. conforming to be liked and accepted, rather than punished by others

Asch's Studies

comparable line test. participants gave responses while alone or w/ others.

On average, people conformed on 37% of trails

We are most likely top conform when the group is..

unanimous, even one non-conformer can have large conformity reducing effects.

Berry study: cultural differences

reasoned that hunt & fish based societies may value independence, adventure, and assertive.

whereas agricultural societies may value cooperativeness, conformity, and acquiescence.

conformity was higher for collectivistic vs indvualistic

Social impact theory

normative social influence depends on strength, immediacy, and number

Strength, Immediacy, Number definitions

S: how important is group?

I: how close is group to you?

N: how many people in group?

UK letter showed...

15% increase in on time payments

How can we make good decisions given string influence & negative effects of deviating from groups?

- acknowledge how social norms affect you

- find ppl that agree w you

- earn and dave idiosyncrasy credits

Idiosyncrasy credits

hypotheticsal "credits" a person earns over time by conforming to norm groups.

The more we have conformed in the past, the more...

out group will tolerate us deviating regarding an issue in the future. Choose battles wisely.

To infulence majority, minorty must...

- present views within & between mintroty members

-high status, high idiosyncrasy credits sway group

Norm of reciprocity

giving small gift/unsolicited favour making target request

Door in face technique

making large, followed by smaller compromise target request

Foot i the door technique

smaller request, followed by larger target request

Low balling

having someone commit lower price offered than rasing to target amount

Learner-teacher paradigram

participant assigned to role of teacher, asked by experiment to "teach" student by asking questions & shocking them.

3 groups: pounding, grunting, heart problems

all groups ended with 60% complete obedience up to highest shock level

In the present study of shock, how far did they go in Milgrams study?

82.5%

When the participant sees two teachers they...

are less likely to continue

When experimenter leaves, and other teacher gives instruction...

informational influence, ppts less obedient

When participants are free to choose level of shock..

very few go to maximum